He is famous for the F word.

But that has not stopped fiery Gordon Ramsay from being judged the most successful UK chef - beating famous names in the bargain.

Celebrity chefs and even celebrities trying to be cooks have become a TV producer’s dream as they seek to put millions of bums on sofas across the UK.

That appetite for food programmes has made superstars out of cooks from ‘Naked Chef’ Jamie Oliver and new host of the TV quiz Family Fortunes Gino D’Acampo to ‘Domestic Goddess’ Nigella Lawson and former Great British Bake Off queen Mary Berry.

A new study aims to evaluate the profile of those who are fronting food programmes that have dominated our TV screens, both on terrestrial and cable channels.

And when it comes to who the most successful UK TV chef is, despite the competition, there is only one winner.

And that is Gordon Ramsay, the former Rangers FC trialist who went on to become a multiple Michelin star winner and host of string of hard-hitting, often expletive-strewn TV shows on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Herald:

 The 54-year-old superchef’s standing was confirmed in a new analysis of the UK’s best known chefs based on their net worth, cookbook sales, the number of restaurants, social media influence, Google search volume, TV appearances and on-screen career length.

The personal finance experts money.co.uk created a scoring system and did the number crunching to rank the performance of the UK’s foremost culinary experts.

Mr Ramsay scored 98.5 out of 120 with the analysts stating that despite his fearsome reputation “few can argue against the relentless work ethic he applies to his culinary pursuits and business dealings.

And it has not stopped during the coronavirus crisis.

The Johnstone-born star of a string of reality shows such as Kitchen Nighmares, Hell’s Kitchen, The F Word and Hotel Hell has been planning to launch a new restaurant mega-chain - with 200 spots around the world in the next five years.

The father-of-five who unveiled plans in recent financial reports saying: “GRNA (Gordon Ramsay North America) has exclusive rights to develop Gordon Ramsay branded restaurants in North America, Canada and the Caribbean where it has plans to open up to 200 restaurants as well as continuing to grow its very successful licence business with other partners.”

While his restaurants company made pre-tax profits of £15.1m, there were also plans to for 50 new sites in the UK creating around 2,000 jobs.

While much of his property portfolio in the UK is concentrated in London - including Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, the three Michelin-starred fine-dining flagship in Chelsea - he is expected to look for more regional openings as part of an expansion.

The analysis stated: “To date, Ramsay’s restaurants have been awarded an extraordinary 16 Michelin Stars in total (7 of which have been retained). In addition to his incredible success in the kitchen, Gordon Ramsay has captured TV audiences across the world, thanks to appearing in 32 TV shows and featuring in around 640 episodes.

“With his fiery personality and exceptional skills in the kitchen, it’s no surprise that the chef is estimated to be worth over £171 million.”

The Herald:

The second ‘most successful’ on the list was Jamie Oliver, who scored 93 out of 120, despite having earnings of over £233m - above that of Mr Ramsay.

With a career spanning over 21 years the 45-year-old chef has made his fortune from a series of successful cookbooks and TV shows but hit a downturn in 2019 when his UK restaurant business collapsed with the loss of 1000 jobs.

The collapse lead to the closure of most of Jamie’s Italian branches in the UK along with Barbecoa and the Fifteen restaurant in London.

The scoring analysts said: “Despite his significant earnings, Mr Oliver scored slightly less than Mr Ramsay due to his lack of Michelin stars and lower social media presence”.

In third place was Gino D’Acampo, the Naples-born celebrity chef who rose to fame as a regular chef on the ITV show This Morning and has since presented cookery programmes including Let’s Do Lunch, There’s No Taste Like Home and Gino’s Italian Escape. With 12 cookbooks, 37 restaurants, an 18-year TV career, and a £7.8m fortune, he scored 66 out 120.

The Herald:

Commenting on the results of the Celebrity Chef Credit Report, Salman Haqqi, personal finance expert at money.co.uk explains how celebrity chefs are cooking up a storm outside of the kitchen: “Celebrity and wealth used to be the exclusive domain of actors, singers and sports stars, but in recent years we’ve seen an increase in the cash made from cooking, due to our appetite for food shows.

“As the world’s culinary experts consolidate their TV appearances, recipe books and expand their brands on social media, it’s fair to say that the top cooks are feasting on the money they are making from their fame.

“The UK’s top 25 celebrity chefs have a combined net worth of £727 million, and Gordon Ramsay tops the list with his estimated net net worth of £171 million.

“Whether it’s their hypnotising cooking skills or their harsh but entertaining reviews, celebrity foodies are much more than just skilled in the kitchen”.

The money.co.uk Celebrity Chef Credit report can be read in full here.